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Graphite India: Historical arc A shift in kanpur dating sites technology has a family-run leader in graphite electrodes humming. China’s decision in 2017 to replace highly polluting blast furnaces with electric arc furnaces to make steel reverberated all the way to Kolkata, where Graphite India, a maker of graphite electrodes, is headquartered.

The producer of this niche carbon product for the electric-arc process suddenly found itself in the spotlight as global demand spiked. The company’s shares have tripled in rupee terms in the past 12 months, earning Krishna Kumar Bangur, who owns a 65 percent stake, a debut spot on the top 100. Despite the windfall, Bangur, 58, has jubilation on hold. We cannot afford to lose our heads. I feel more of a sense of responsibility now. Thanks to that stellar performance, it made a maiden appearance on Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion companies list this year. 223 million cash on the books—as of the June quarter—Bangur is still cautious.

We are in a venture—not an adventure. For all China’s push on electric arc furnaces—it is aiming to have 20 percent of its steel made in lower-polluting mills, from 9 percent currently—it holds no prospect of direct sales for the otherwise internationally minded Graphite India. The insular industry there doesn’t invite entry. Sometimes nobody has a clue as to what China is all about. Beyond the furnaces shift, China also cut back on steel exports—out of its own environmental concerns as well as pushback from the European Union, the US and India on steel dumping.

This stoked steel production in other parts of the world where electric arc furnaces are used for 45 percent of steelmaking. Over the next five years, demand for graphite electrodes is expected to outstrip supply, keeping prices high. Capacity is expected to grow by 8 percent annually, but demand should grow by 12 percent. Sumangal Nevatia in a Macquarie Research report in June.

The China turn came when the graphite electrode industry was recovering from a spell of weak demand. From 2011 to 2016, China was pumping steel—made in blast furnaces—into global markets and had racked up a 50 percent market share. This caused demand for graphite electrodes to tumble and prices to halve. While the rest of the industry bled, Graphite India continued to make profits because it wasn’t saddled with debt. The company sells more than half its volume in India but also exports to the US, Europe, the Mideast and Southeast Asia. Even though graphite electrodes are being used in lower-polluting plants, there are environmental concerns about the components’ factories themselves. Graphite India’s Bengaluru plant protested against air emissions and the Karnataka state pollution control board conducted an inspection.

The board had issued a closure order in 2012, which the company contested in an appeals court. The limiting factor is access to the key raw material, needle coke, which is made from crude and is sourced from a clutch of manufacturers in the US and Japan. The limited supply is also subject to diversion to lithium-ion battery makers. So Bangur is looking at diversifying beyond graphite electrodes into value-added graphite and carbon products. Graphene is a carbon-based product that could be used in everything from touchscreens to energy storage and aerospace. If it develops well it can become another Graphite India. But it has many years to go.

Bangur’s life in business goes back to 1976 when he turned 16. A fifth-generation scion of a storied family that was into everything from jute to real estate, he got an early introduction to different businesses from his elders even as he studied commerce as an undergrad. He also worked on many a shop floor. In 1991 the extended Bangur family split and his branch got the electrodes business, among others.

Shree Cement, inherited the cement unit. Post-split, a partnership with Great Lakes Carbon of the US dating to the 1960s unravelled. We had to change the product mix, go into new markets and build market share. His father’s death in 1994 propelled him to the hot seat at the age of 34. He has an older sister who is not involved in the business.

Graphite India as it is now was formed in 2001 through the merger of two companies. Bangur slowly built up and in 2004 took over a German electrode-making company in bankruptcy and turned it around. To further his business interests Bangur took permanent residency in Singapore in 2012, joining a growing tribe of Indian tycoons who have sought such dual credentials. For all his instinctive caution, the veteran of a long-volatile sector sees new light.